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G2S Project Code: 2020-MN-86138
State: Minnesota
Fiscal Year: 2020

Grantee
State Library Services - Minnesota Department of Education

Project Director
Director Name: Tamara Lee
Director Phone: 651-582-8311
Director Email: tamara.lee@state.mn.us

General Information
Title: Advancing Racial Equity in Libraries
State Project Code:
Start Date: 10/01/2020
End Date: 09/30/2021
Abstract: State Library Services has continued to move forward on racial equity initiatives in a variety of ways. In January 2021 State Library Services partnered with the Minnesota Library Association and Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (Minnesota’s professional organization for school library media specialists) to facilitate Project READY, a professional development curriculum focused on improving relationships with, services to, and resources for youth of color and Native youth. Using a facilitated learning model, 53 youth services library staff participated in 4 cohorts that met bi-weekly from January-June 2021. As a way to supplement Project READY, a midpoint event for all cohorts featured a panel discussion of BIPOC authors from the book “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.” Part one of Project READY culminated in a final event with school librarian Julia Torres to talk about her work with #DISRUPTTEXTS, healing reading trauma and decolonizing libraries.

Following listening sessions on racial equity in libraries during summer 2020, we heard that in order for racial equity initiatives to be successful, we must look to people of color as guides and deep partners in this work. To sustain this principle we formed our Equity Advisory Committee, a group of 12 BIPOC library staff from public and academic libraries across Minnesota. The Committee has met monthly from April-September 2021 and is helping to launch a conference for Minnesota BIPOC library staff.

State Library Services also facilitated conversations with library directors on racial equity in their communities and service areas. These listening sessions created the opportunity for administrative staff to reflect and examine racial equity from an organizational scope.

State Goal: Libraries respond to diverse community needs

Budget Information

LSTA

MATCH-State

MATCH-Other

Total

$7,785.27

$0.00

$7,785.27

Intent(s)
Improve users' ability to converse in community conversations around topics of concern.
Civic Affairs
Community Concerns

Activities
Activity Details
Title: Project READY
Narrative: In January 2021 State Library Services partnered with the Minnesota Library Association and Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (Minnesota’s professional organization for school library media specialists) to facilitate Project READY, a professional development curriculum focused on improving relationships with, services to, and resources for youth of color and Native youth. Using a facilitated learning model, 53 youth services library staff participated in 4 cohorts that met bi-weekly from January-June 2021. As a way to supplement Project READY, a midpoint event for all cohorts featured a panel discussion of BIPOC authors from the book “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.” Part one of Project READY culminated in a final event with school librarian Julia Torres to talk about her work with #DISRUPTTEXTS, healing reading trauma and decolonizing libraries.

Surveys were distributed to participants both before and after they completed the curriculum. All respondents answered "yes" to the following question: "After completing part one of Project READY, do you feel you have made progress on your racial justice journey?" Respondents reported feeling "more familiar" and "very familiar" with the following topics after participating in Project READY: systemic racism, antiracism, cultural competency, implicit bias, microaggressions, and white privilege.

Staff presented about the project at the Minnesota Library Association Conference and YALSA's Young Adult Services Symposium, and led a reflective workshop for a group of 30 school librarians going through the curriculum.

Intent: Improve users' ability to converse in community conversations around topics of concern.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Program
Format: Virtual

Quantity
Session length (minutes): 70
Number of sessions in program: 14
Average number in attendance per session: 12
Number of times program administered: 4

Partner Information

Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No

Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No

Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General

Locale
Is the activity state-wide: No
Specific Locations: No
Library Types

Public Libraries: 11
Academic Libraries: 2
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 1
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 16
Other: 0

Question 1: I learned something by participating in this library activity.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: I feel more confident about what I just learned.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 3: I intend to apply what I just learned.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 4: Applying what I learned will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0

Activity Details
Title: Equity Advisory Committee
Narrative: Following listening sessions on racial equity in libraries during summer 2020, State Library Services understood that in order for racial equity initiatives to be successful, we must look to people of color as guides and deep partners in this work. To sustain this principle we formed our Equity Advisory Committee, a group of 12 BIPOC library staff from public and academic libraries across Minnesota. The Committee has met monthly from April-September 2021 and is helping to launch a conference exclusively for Minnesota BIPOC library staff.

Intent: Improve users' ability to converse in community conversations around topics of concern.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Consultation/drop-in/referral
Format: Virtual

Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 6
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 1

Partner Information

Public Libraries: 11
Academic Libraries: 1
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0

Activity Details
Title: Listening Sessions with Library Directors
Narrative:

Through statewide listening sessions conducted in 2020, StateLibrary Services heard that institutional movement toward racial equity can bestymied at the leadership levels of library organizations. In order to betterunderstand the perspective of library directors, State Library Servicesfacilitated conversations with library directors on racial equity in their communitiesand service areas.

In April and May 2021,four sessions with participants from a total of 17 library systems took place overZoom conferencing software. Participants were asked to tell the story of theircommunity through four questions:

How was your communityestablished? What values were present at the founding?
What brings yourcommunity together?
Where is the conflictin your story as a community, and how does the library contribute to theconflict?
How do you work withinthis story to make change?

Participants weregiven time to reflect and the option to draw their answers, and invited to sendtheir drawings to SLS at the end of the session.

The conversationsrevealed the complexity of factors affecting a library director’s ability and willingnessto create change, including the library’s governance structure, the community’scurrent and historic demographic makeup, the library’s forms of support fromthe community (board, individual donors, volunteer work, and the director’spersonal orientation toward change. To illustrate our findings, SLS staff designedan empathy map with five distinct personas based on the geographic andgovernance differences in Minnesota’s public libraries. We have used this mapin conversations as a team to better understand how State Library Services canoffer differentiated programming to support library administrators in theirefforts to move toward racial equity.

Intent: Improve users' ability to converse in community conversations around topics of concern.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Program
Format: Virtual

Quantity
Session length (minutes): 90
Number of sessions in program: 4
Average number in attendance per session: 5
Number of times program administered: 4

Partner Information

Public Libraries: 17
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0

Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important outcomes or findings not previously reported:
Each of these activities contribute to a building a professional network of library staff deepening their awareness and commitment to racial equity in libraries. Project READY provided a unique opportunity for public and school library staff to come together, share commonalities and differences in what racial inequities look like in both environments, and the role staff can play to counteract white supremacist systems. Participants commented in our survey that "I am more comfortable with my discomfort and more equipped to examine policies and procedures from an equity lens." Creating the Equity Advisory Committee has confirmed that BIPOC library staff in Minnesota are often isolated geographically and culturally in their organizations and need spaces to gather, share and process the trauma of working in mostly-white organizations. Building relationships with the Committee will increase trust in the work of State Library Services and allow for more nuanced initiatives grounded in the every day experiences of library staff.
Please briefly describe the importance of these outcomes and findings for future program planning:
The outcomes of these activities center around building professional networks and increasing capacity to thoughtfully and intentionally engage in racial equity work. All activities nurture and build staff ability to communicate and address uncomfortable issues of race and inequity.
Explain one or two of the most significant lessons learned for others wanting to adopt any facets of this project:
Creating an advisory committee of BIPOC staff to help guide, shape and plan equity initiatives is an important step to the collaborative efforts needed to sustain and support equity work. However, it is imperative that committee members receive compensation for the expertise and emotional labor required in this work. Careful consideration and communication about role and purpose of the committee must be done in order to avoid repeating tokenizing or harmful experiences that many have experienced in the workplace.
Do you anticipate continuing this project after the current reporting period ends:
Yes
Do you anticipate any change in level of effort in managing this project:
No
Explain:

Do you anticipate changing the types of activities and objectives addressed by the project:
No
Explain:

Was an evaluation conducted for this project:
Yes
Was a final written evaluation report produced:
No
Can the final written evaluation report be shared publicly on the IMLS website:
No
Was the evaluation conducted by project staff (either SLAA or local library) or by a third-party evaluator:
Third-Party
What data collection tools were used for any report outcomes and outputs:
Did you collect any media for the data:
What types of methods were used to analyze collected data:
Other:
How were participants (or items) selected:
What type of research design did you use to compare the value for any reported output or outcome:

Exemplary: Yes
Exemplary NarrativeThis type of work has not been done widely in libraries around the country. This has the potential to address issues of recruitment and retention of Black, Indigenous and Staff of Color in a uniquely equitable way.

Project Tags: equity, diversity, youth